Macleod of Dare eBook

Oscar himself answered by wrestling himself free and
taking refuge by his master’s legs, though he
still looked guilty.

“Yes, he is my dog; and a nice fix he has got
me into,” said Macleod, standing aside to let
the Empress Maria Theresa pass by in her resplendent
costume. “I suppose I must walk home with
him again. Oscar, Oscar, how dare you?”

“If you please, sir,” said a juvenile
voice behind him, “if Mr. ——­
will let me, I will take the dog. I know where
to tie him up.”

Macleod turned.

“Co an so?” said he, looking down
at the chubby-faced boy in the kilts, who had his
pipes under his arm. “Don’t you know
the Gaelic?”

“I am only learning,” said the young musician.
“Will I take the dog, sir?”

Little Piper turned aside into a large hall which
had been transformed into a sort of waiting-room;
and here Macleod found himself in the presence of
a considerable number of children, half of them girls,
half of them boys, all dressed in tartan, and seated
on the forms along the walls. The children, who
were half asleep at this time of the night, woke up
with sudden interest at sight of the beautiful collie;
and at the same moment Little Piper explained to the
gentleman who was in charge of these young ones that
the dog had to be tied up somewhere, and that a small
adjoining room would answer that purpose. The
proposal was most courteously entertained. Macleod,
Mr. ——­, and Little Piper walked
along to this side room, and there Oscar was properly
secured.

“And I will get him some water, sir, if he wants
it,” said the boy in the kilts.

“Very well,” Macleod said. “And
I will give you my thanks for it; for that is all
that a Highlander, and especially a piper, expects
for a kindness. And I hope you will learn the
Gaelic soon, my boy. And do you know ‘Cumhadh
na Cloinne?’ No, it is too difficult for you;
but I think if I had the chanter between my fingers
myself, I could let you hear ‘Cumhadh na Cloinne.’”

“I am sure John Maclean can play it,”
said the small piper.

“Who is he?”

The gentleman in charge of the youngsters explained
that John Maclean was the eldest of the juvenile pipers,
five others of whom were in attendance.

“I think,” said Macleod, “that I
am coming down in a little time to make the acquaintance
of your young pipers, if you will let me.”

He passed up the broad staircase and into the empty
supper-room, from which a number of entrances showed
him the strange scene being enacted in the larger
hall. Who were these people who were moving to
the sound of rapid music? A clown in a silken
dress of many colors, with bells to his cap and wrists,
stood at one of the doors. Macleod became his
fellow-spectator of what was going forward. A